In the current issue of Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology, Dr. James R. Berenson from the Institute for Myeloma and Bone Cancer Research discusses the history of Velcade (bortezomib) and the drug’s current role in treating newly diagnosed multiple myeloma in patients who are not candidates for high dose therapy.

Until recent years, the only treatment options available for patients unable to receive high dose therapy were standard chemotherapy and steroid regimens used in the conventional treatment of tumors. The most common regimen, a combination of the chemotherapy agent melphalan …

According to the American Society of Hematology, scientists at the Institute for Myeloma and Bone Cancer Research (IMBCR) have discovered a new mechanism by which multiple myeloma tumors obtain their own blood supply.

Many tumors produce a protein called pleiotrophin. New research has found that pleiotrophin produced by multiple myeloma tumor cells is capable of changing certain types of white blood cells into “vascular endothelial cells.” These “vascular endothelial cells” form the lining of blood vessels that emerge within the tumor.

This discovery opens up new possibilities for …

The philanthropic organization FJC recently awarded a $1 million grant to the Institute for Myeloma and Bone Cancer Research (IMBCR).

The grant will go toward IMBCR’s “Cure Myeloma Project,” a research project IMBCR claims is the nation’s foremost effort to find a cure for multiple myeloma.

Specifically, the money will fund six research projects to be conducted by leading myeloma scientists. The topics of these projects are:

• Tumor necrosis factor receptor 6 (TRAF6) dominant negative peptides - According to IMBCR, blocking TRAF6 expression may hinder cell growth and

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